Cooke, himself a former sheriff of Weld County, is the sponsor of Senate Bill 68, which raises the penalty for false reporting to a class 1 misdemeanor if the person calling claims to have a deadly weapon. If police have to evacuate or lock down a building, the caller could face heavier charges if a person is injured or killed during the incident, Cooke said, including facing up to 12 years in prison in the most serious circumstances.

Those changes make a lot of sense to us.

For starters, the risks posed by misusing a SWAT team are real. While law enforcement is busy responding to a fake call, a real incident could happen where the SWAT team is needed but unavailable because of a prank.

Also, as illustrated in December in a tragic example out of Kansas, the SWAT team could respond to the fake call and kill an innocent person who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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And those examples don't even take into consideration the financial implications that go with paying a team of people — some of them getting overtime — to respond to what is essentially nothing.

We applaud Cooke for his efforts and hope his bill passes. We're all for practical jokes, but swatting is neither practical nor funny. If stiffer penalties are what it takes to make sure our law enforcement resources are available for the people and situations that need them most, it's time to make that happen.

— Tribune Editorial Board

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